Contributions of the Delhi Sultanates :
1. Administration: The Kingdom of Delhi Sultanate was a theocratic state, (religion was Islam). ‘Shariat’ (Islamic law) were the rules of the state. The ‘Ulema (Islamic scholars) controlled the state and administration. The Sultans called themselves ‘Naib’ (deputy) of Kalifa.
2. Central Government: Sultan was the head of administration. He exercised the legislative, executive and judicial powers. He was guided by the Ulemas. Allauddin kept the Ulemas away from the state affairs.
The Sultan. carried the administration with the help of a number of ministers. They were the Wazir (the Prime minister in charge of revenue and finance), Ariz-i- Mamlik who was in charge of the military, Amir-i-Mazlis who was in charge of royal forts and conferences, Barid-i-Mumalik- head of the state news agency,
Dahir-i- mumalik – in charge of the royal correspondences, Sadarus-Sadur who handled religious matters and Kazi-ul- Qazat- the Chief Justice.
3. Revenue: Land revenue was the main source of the state income. The war *****, tributes, house, water, religious and Jaziya taxes, etc were the other sources of income to the state. Land tax could be paid either in cash or kind.
4. Judicial: The Sultans administered justice with the help of Kazi-ul-Qazat (The chief Justice). The chief Kazi was helped by a Mufti (interpreter of Islamic law). The towns and cities had courts headed by Kazis and assisted by Muftis. Kotwal was the Police officer in charge of law and order.
5. Army: The Sultan maintained a strong army. It consisted of cavalty, intantry and elephant forces. The Sultanate was primarily a military state. The Sultan was the supreme commander. All ministers and officers except the chief Justice and the Khazis were to render both civil and military duties. Diwan-i-Ariz was in charge of army administration. The pay of the soldiers varied according to their service.
6. Provincial administration: The Sultanate (Kingdom) was divided into a number of provinces called ‘Iqtas’. The head of a province was called ‘Naib Sultan’. They enjoyed absolute power in their provinces. The main duties were collection of revenue and maintenance of law and order within the province. The maintained an army of their own. Some Sultans transferred the Governers and punished them severely, if they revolted against the state.
Each province was divided into ‘Shiqs and Paraganas’. They were looked after by Shiqdars and Amils respectively. Village was the primary unit of administration. It had traditional officers such as the Chaudhari, the Patwari, the Chaukidar, etc.
7. Literature: This ** witnessed the growth of Persian and regional language literatures. Persian poets of central Asia took shelter in the courts of the Sultans of Delhi. Amir Khusru was the most outstanding writer and he was called the ‘Parrot of India’. He wrote Khazyan-ul- Futuh, and Tarkish-i-Alai. Amir Hasan Dehalvi wrote sonnets.
Badruddin, Maulana Moinuddin, Umrani and Hassan Nizami were some of the great persian writers. Mohammad-bin-Tughalak and Firoz Shah Tughalak were great scholars. Ziauddin Barani and Ibn Batuta were great historians of the Tughalak **.
Barani started the Tarik-i-Firoz Shahi and it was completed by Shams-i-Siraj Afif. Chand Bardai wrote Prithiviraja Raso, Malik Mohammad Jayasi wrote Padmavati. There was encouragement for translating works from Sanskrit to Persian.
8. Art and Architecture: The Sultanate of Delhi introduced the Indo-Islamic style of architecture. It represents a synthesis of the two religious ideals like Hinduism and Islam.
The important features of the Indo-Islamic movements are minarates, arches, domes, hazaras, large gateways, etc., Quwatul- Islam, Mosque at Delhi and Adai-Dinka- Jhampara Mosque at Ajmer were the eatlist creations. The Qutub minar was started by Qutubuddin Aibak and completed by Iltumash.
Hauz-i-Shamsi, Jami Masjid, and Shamsi Idgah were built by Iltumash. The Jami Masjid is one of the largest and most beautiful buildings. Allauddin built the palace of Hazar situm (Palace of 1000 pillars), the fort of Siri, Jamait Khan Masjidand the Alai Darwaza at Delhi. Firoz Shah was the greatest of the builders. He **** out the cities of Firozabad, Fatehbad, and Janpur.
